How badly do you want victory?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I believe that many of us are experiencing limited or no victory because we have not learned to press the battle on through to victory. “But wait a minute, Dr. Rogers, I want the victory.” Do you really?

Then you need to know this: First, God wants you to have the victory. Second, the measuring cup of your victory is in the palm of your hands. That is, you can be as victorious as you want to be. Every day, make Ephesians 6:10-18, which describes the armor of God, a part of your morning routine.

When I played football, I put on a helmet, shoulder pads, knee pads, cleats—no player would go out on the field undressed for the game.

Every day, we need to get dressed spiritually. I’m not going around spiritually naked. I’m going to have on the whole armor of God. I wouldn’t walk into a day undressed, and I’m not going to walk into a day without the armor of God on me and my family: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the Gospel, helmet of the hope of our salvation, shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit.

God gives us weapons and they work! When the devil came after Jesus in Matthew 4, Jesus defeated him with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.  Three times Jesus said, “It is written,” and the devil left Him.

ACTION POINT:

We will only have victory if we use the weapons God has given. The devil has no stronghold we can’t pull down if we do. Don’t try to wield those spiritual weapons in your own strength. The Bible is your sword, but it’s the Sword of the Spirit, not your sword. Take it up, but rely fully on Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Who Are the Children of Abraham?

“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

You who hope in Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are Abraham’s descendants and heirs of his covenant promises.

God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:4, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” But Genesis makes plain that Abraham did not father a multitude of nations in a physical or political sense. Therefore, the meaning of God’s promise was probably that a multitude of nations would somehow enjoy the blessings of sonship even though physically unrelated to Abraham.

That’s no doubt what God meant in Genesis 12:3 when he said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” From the very beginning, God had in view that Jesus Christ would be the descendant of Abraham and that everyone who trusts in Christ would become an heir of Abraham’s promise. Paul says in Galatians 3:29, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

So, when God said to Abraham 4,000 years ago, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations,” he opened the way for any one of us, no matter what nation we belong to, to become a child of Abraham and an heir of God’s promises. All we have to do is share the faith of Abraham — that is, bank our hope on God’s promises, so much so that, if obedience requires it, we could give up our dearest possession like Abraham gave up Isaac.

We don’t become heirs of Abraham’s promises by working for God, but by being confident that God works for us. “[Abraham] grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20–21). That’s why Abraham could obey God even when obedience looked like a dead-end street. He trusted God to do the impossible — like raise his son from the dead.

Faith in God’s promises — or today we would say, faith in Christ, who is the confirmation of God’s promises — is the way to become a child of Abraham; obedience is the evidence that faith is genuine (Genesis 22:12–19). Therefore, Jesus says in John 8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.”

Children of Abraham are people from all nations who put their hope in Christ and, like Abraham on Mount Moriah, therefore don’t let the loss of their most precious earthly possession stop their obedience.

You who hope in Jesus Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are the descendants of Abraham and heirs of his covenant promises.

John Piper 

Are you dying of spiritual malnutrition?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Christians are suffering a famine because so many pulpits aren’t feeding their flocks the heavenly bread. If you’re not feeding on the Bible daily, you’re either not saved or you’re dying of spiritual malnutrition. Our strength is found when we feed upon the Word of God.

Job said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Job was saying that if he had to choose between eating physical bread or spiritual bread, he would rather have the Word of God.

ACTION POINT:

I pray that everyone reading this will commit to a daily routine of exercising on their knees in prayer and feeding with the nutritious bread of God’s Word.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Faith That Magnifies Grace

I do not nullify the grace of God. (Galatians 2:21)

When I lost my footing as a little boy in the undertow at the beach, I felt as if I were going to be dragged to the middle of the ocean in an instant.

It was a terrifying thing. I tried to get my bearings and figure out which way was up. But I couldn’t get my feet on the ground, and the current was too strong to swim. I wasn’t a good swimmer anyway.

In my panic I thought of only one thing: Could someone help me? But I couldn’t even call out from under the water.

When I felt my father’s hand take hold of my upper arm like a mighty vice grip, it was the sweetest feeling in the world. I yielded entirely to being overpowered by his strength. I reveled in being picked up at his will. I did not resist.

The thought did not enter my mind that I should try to show that things aren’t so bad; or that I should add my strength to my dad’s arm. All I thought was, Yes! I need you! I thank you! I love your strength! I love your initiative! I love your grip! You are great!

In that spirit of yielded affection, one cannot boast. I call that yielded affection “faith.” And my father was the embodiment of the future grace of God that I desperately needed and craved under the water. This is the faith that magnifies grace.

As we ponder how to live the Christian life, the uppermost thought should be: How can I magnify rather than nullify the grace of God? Paul answers this question in Galatians 2:20–21, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God.”

Why does his life not nullify the grace of God? Because he lives by faith in the Son of God. Faith calls all attention to grace and magnifies it, rather than nullifying it.

John Piper 

What you could miss out on

BIBLE MEDITATION:

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. 1 Peter 5:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Isn’t it wonderful to know that the works of God are perfect? That God’s ways are perfect? And His will is perfect? Now, someone reading this may think, “But I don’t know about God’s will. I don’t want to give myself completely to Him or He might send me to a remote desert as a missionary.”

Let’s set the record straight. God’s will is not so much something you surrender to as it is something you’re allowed to get in on. God will choose for you what you would choose for yourself if you had enough sense to choose it!

ACTION POINT:

Let your prayer today be, "Help me, Lord, not to fear what I'll miss if I do Your will; help me to fear what I'll miss if I don't."

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Gain of Serving God

“They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (2 Chronicles 12:8)

Serving God is utterly different from serving anyone else.

God is extremely jealous that we understand this — and enjoy it. For example, he commands us, “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Psalm 100:2). There is a reason for this gladness. It is given in Acts 17:25. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

We serve him with gladness because we do not bear the burden of meeting his needs. He has no needs. So, serving him can’t mean meeting his needs. Instead we rejoice in a service where he meets our needs. Serving God always means receiving grace from God to do what we have to do.

To show how jealous God is for us to understand this, and glory in it, there is a story in 2 Chronicles 12. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who ruled the southern kingdom after the revolt of the ten tribes, chose against serving the Lord and gave his service to other gods and other kingdoms.

As judgment, God sent Shishak, the king of Egypt, against Rehoboam with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen (2 Chronicles 12:2–3).

In mercy God sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam with this message: “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak’” (2 Chronicles 12:5). The happy upshot of that message is that Rehoboam and his princes humbled themselves in repentance and said, “The Lord is righteous” (2 Chronicles 12:6).

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he said, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak” (2 Chronicles 12:7). But as a discipline to them he says, “They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (2 Chronicles 12:8).

The point is plain: serving the enemy and serving God are very different. How so? Serving God is a receiving and a blessing and a joy and a benefit. Serving Shishak is exhausting and depleting and sorrowful. God is a giver. Shishak is a taker.

This is why I am so jealous to say that the worship of Sunday morning and the worship of daily obedience is not at bottom a burdensome giving to God, but a joyful getting from God. That is the true service that God demands. In all you do, trust me as the giver.

John Piper 

What baggage do you need to get rid of?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 1 Corinthians 6:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

There are certain weights an athlete must choose to lay aside if he’s going to succeed. They may not be bad for other people, but they are bad for an athlete. In the spiritual realm, it is the same for Christians.

Paul tells us there are things that may be “lawful,” but “all things are not expedient.” The word “expedient” is similar to the word “expedition.” You see, Christians are going somewhere, and if something doesn’t speed us along the way, then it’s excess baggage, and we need to get rid of it. It’s weighing you down on your journey. It’s holding you back.

ACTION POINT:

Ask God today, “Are there legitimate, lawful things in my life that are keeping me from running the race?” It might be a hobby, a friendship, a recreational sport, or a cabin in the mountains. It’s not bad; it just keeps you from maximizing your life for the Lord Jesus Christ. You must lay it aside.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers